I hope that everyone has had a well-deserved break from school and are ready to resume our learning programs. Term 2 was particularly challenging term for children, parents and staff with the introduction of remote learning and then a switch back to face-to-face teaching. It is great to have the children back in school for the start of this term.

There remains some restrictions and alterations to our normal Term 3 programs. We will do our best to work through these and to continue giving families as much information as we can as soon as it is available to us.

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The arrangements for a staggered start and finish to the school day will continue until the  Department of Education advises that we can return to the previous arrangements. This also means that parents are not allowed to enter the school at this time.

The Principal team will continue to support staff on duty before and after school to assist students with their arrival and departure. We thank you all for your understanding.

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Term 3 is of course, our usual concert term. At this stage we do not know what restrictions if any will be in place in the last week of term when concert traditionally takes place. Our plan is for students to prepare concert items as in previous years.

Ideally we will be able to run the concert in the Hall as previously. We have a couple of contingency plans. As a minimum we will look to make a film of the performance and make this available to parents.

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We have made a small adjustment to the internal times of the school day. There is no change to the times for the start and finish of the school day.

Recess will now run from 10:40am to 11:00am, lunch will start with ten minutes for eating at 12:40pm followed by outside playtime. End of lunch will finish as previously at 1:50 pm.

We are still teaching six lessons of 50 minutes split into three blocks of two lessons each.

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Our school photographs for 2020 are due to be taken on Wednesday, 5th August. Further information about this will be sent home shortly. We are in discussion with Arthur Reed to finalise arrangements . Please note that on this day children will be required to wear the official school uniform in the photos. This means that students will be asked to take off any brown jumpers other than those with the school logo or those that are completely plain. Pants, leggings or tights must be brown except in combination with a winter dress or skirt when they can be black.

Please see this extract from the school’s uniform policy:

1. The school’s colours are brown and gold.
2. All children are expected to wear appropriate clothing in the school’s colours.
3. Uniform should be accessible to all families.
4. The school’s formal uniform (see below) must be worn for public events e.g. photographs, presentations in assembly, excursions and as notified by the school.
5. An informal uniform can be worn on other occasions.
6. The school’s formal uniform includes uniform items with the school’s logo or plain gold / brown items. The informal uniform includes the formal items as well as Drysdale Hawks tops. Items in other colours or with other logos or decorations are not a part of either the formal or informal uniform and may not be worn at school.
7. Children wearing the winter dress or other items in the same fabric are permitted to wear black leggings, tights or stockings. This is the only permitted exception to the wearing of the school’s colours of brown / gold.
8. Children wearing the summer dress or other items in the same fabric are not permitted to wear items in any other colour than brown / gold unless they are shorter than the hem line of the summer dress or summer shorts.

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We are excited to announce that Sentral have released an updated version of their Parent App.  Using Sentral makes our communication much more streamlined and achieves our goal of using as few systems as possible (the fewer user names and passwords to remember the better!).

Staff will be receiving some refresher training in using the new App over the coming week in readiness for the whole school to be using it. 

Read more for instructions on how to access Sentral’s Parent App.

Read more…

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We had some fabulous volunteers conduct a mini working bee over the school holidays. There were some donated Jacarandas planted in the south lawn terrace to eventually provide some additional summer shade to the new seating areas.

The Penfold/McCoughtry gang provided a real burst of energy and generosity when planting out some beautiful native Banskias along the Yr 6 veranda (and some log landscaping). We are sure the current

Yr 6’s will take good care of them. Future classes will be delighted to watch the busy birds and bees foraging on the magnificent flowers.

Thanks to School Council and past parents and friends for the purchase of the trees and to the Nicholls, Lockhart/Grace and Penfold/McCoughtry families. Please read more for photos.

Read more…

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Welcome back to all our students and members of the community. It has been a great start to Term 3. We can’t wait to see the learning and achievements throughout the coming weeks. Last term we were privileged to visit some classes across the school, or even have some classes visit our office.

The Year 5 students shared with us some amazing 2040 school designs. A lot of planning, thought and effort went into their creations and it was great to hear further explanation of their design choices. You will see some creative and innovative futuristic schools in photos.

The Year 1 students had been learning lots about non-fiction texts and selected an animal to write a report about. They were enthusiastic to share the facts they had learned about their chosen animal. They also included some excellent illustrations to support their writing.

Please read more to see the Year 1’s great work!

Read more…

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Students celebrated the end of a very, very memorable Term 2, by dressing in our ‘Values Colours’. The day was orgainised by the Kids Matter Kids and Junior School Council. There was colour everywhere the students walked around the oval listening to music, it was a great celebration.

Our kids know these colours very well as they match the colours of the tokens they receive for the positive recognition of expected behaviours. Anyone who needs a reminder our colours are Relisience – Yellow, Acceptance – Purple, Integrity – Pink, Success – Blue and Enjoyment – Green.

Due to COVID-19 restrictions, we haven’t been able to hand out tokens, even though we are still awarding them and adding them to the students’ ongoing tallies. What a fun way to end the term that will not be forgotten!

Please read more to see all the colour!!

Read more…

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Last term the Year 5s were exploring the big idea “The world’s geography has an impact on the reciprocal relationship between Man and Earth.”
We looked at sustainability and the impact that we have on our environment, current world issues, indigenous perspectives in relation to connection and respect to the environment around us.

We watched a film called ‘2040’. A film that teaches about current issues and the positive changes we can make to create a positive world to live in and what that could look like in 2040.

From this they created a 2040 school. A sustainable and futuristic school that showcased learning that has happened over the term.
The students were thoroughly engaged in knowing that they can make a difference. They showcased their knowledge through lego creations, pamphlets, artwork, models and through the use of technology.

We were so proud with what they produced.

Please read more to see a gallery of all their great projects:

Read more…

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Design Your Jersey Competition – Basketball Victoria

Basketball Victoria are teaming up with AND1 and Spalding Australia for you to win a one of a kind customised jersey designed by you. The winning design will be printed on an AND1 jersey for you to keep as well as winning an AND1 voucher and a Spalding Colour Me Ball.

For all the information and prizes see :

 basketball.victoria.com.au/design-your-jersey-competition/ 

 

Parent Education Events Geelong Term 3

All programs are free and will be run via Zoom, however, bookings are essential. To book visit www.geelongaustralia.com.au/parenting or call us on 5272 4781.

Regional Parenting Service Calendar Term 3 2020

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